Blender e-book: The Wow Factor
I’m on holiday right now but here’s something I think deserves mentioning: BlenderGuru.com’s Andrew Price has released an excellent Blender e-book called ‘The Wow Factor’.
The book is styled like the tutorials in 3D world: each chapter covers one specific effect. It starts off with a demonstration of the result and some background information, followed by a concise list of steps required to achieve the effect. The 105-page PDF file costs $47.
Andrew is doing a great job at providing professional quality tutorials to the Blender community! I absolutely hope that the response from the Blender community will motivate him to continue.
I’m afraid I don’t have time to do a full review now, but as soon as I receive a solid review I’ll post it here!
Links
- The Wow Factor
- Free chapter (registration required)
Thanks for the plug Bart!
If anyone has any questions feel free to post them here and I’ll answer them :)
Tried to buy your book from your sight, but it is not working. Help
Hey Chuck, sorry but the book is no longer for sale. However I encourage you to find it on any of the pirating websites :)
Thanks, Andrew
https://www.loop.la/descargas/librosanim/blender/The%20Wow%20Factor%20Book.pdf
I know you must have put a lot of work into this, but it still sounds quite expensive for an ebook (e.g. more expensive than most printed – and more bulky – books in Blender store).
It’s not a criticism, just a comment :)
The choice is always up to the buyer.
Anyway, good luck with the venture.
47 bucks for a pdf? Registration required for a sample?
No thanks mate. Blender cookie provides full video tutorials for free. The quality is exceptional too.
Before you dismiss it, go to the Wow Factor site and take a look at all the extras that come with it. There are video tutorials and a lot of other things as well.
As Mitch said, there is not only one pdf but a lot more stuff like video tutorials, interviews and more pdf’s. I bought the package today and it is worth it! Thanks Andrew!
But wait, there is more …
I have bought it, I understand it, I like it, but I’ll have to teach myself the basics once again.
@ Mitch
I did. The way he shamelessly self promotes himself leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Having reviewed the book before it was released I can say that it is absolutely worth the $47 Andrew is charging. The amount of quality content is exceptional.
@Dave Parsons, thank you for the feedback! That being said, we may offer a large number of free tutorials but we have very few on this particular subject; compositing. It is not our area of expertise and there is a serious lack of good compositing training out there. Well, that is until now, Andrew has filled that gap nicely :)
Cheers,
Jonathan Williamson
This is a very clear, broad and informative package, easy to navigate and to get to the relevant information, without unnecessary padding. Armed with this and David Weese’s ‘greenscreen nightmare’ tutorial, that’s compositing in Blender pretty well covered.
@Dave Parsons
Understood. I personally like his marketing style, but it may not appeal to everyone. But you dug deeper, which is all I meant. :)
To put it all in economic perspective, check out learning materials for Maya for how to seriously haemorrhage the wallet. I know, I’ve done it :)
Also a mention for Roger Wickes book on compositing which is very useful in conjunction with Andrew’s Wowfactor and David Weese’s ‘Greenscreen Nightmare’.
All three are a great investment
Andrew Price is pretty is my god father in Blender (along with Kernon Dillon and Tony Mullen),
I have learnt and became very confident using blender
thanks to him.
Andrew You could have sold the tutorial for a $100 I would have bought it
with my eye closed.
This is an opportunity for me to thank you Andrew,
for all the hard work that you have put in over the year.
But only that there is also the fact that I have done any
project with the compositor.
I need that knowledge.
I am stuck with 2.49 but this will also be an excellent opportunity for me
to work with 2.5 though the WOW factor!!!
Long life to BlenderGuru.
I’m simply speechless when I read some comments here on BN. I’m talking about Dave Parsons who “shamelessly” (sorry, I have to use the same word you had for Andrew’s behavior) criticize others without even having a clear idea of what he’s talking about. As Jonathan already said there’s no material in this field available, maybe few low quality tutorials where people do things without explaining what’s really going on in the compositor. 40 euros for all this stuff is not much, really. I paid myself a Blender book (I won’t say which because I don’t want to talk bad about it here) for 35 which doesn’t teach anything at all. A lot of theory ok, but still when you finish reading it, you didn’t learn anything new. Well with Andrew’s ebook things are a lot different, but I bet that when you commented you haven’t even opened the WoW factor webpage, otherwise you would have noticed that it’s not just an ebook. Damn, people like you are used too much to free stuff. Keep in mind that open source is not necessarily free, sharing knowledge is not something that people have to do for free. Would you feed and host at your place all the people to whom you “stole” knowledge when you watched or read their tutorials? Most of the people like you behaves in this way just because they’re able themselves to do anything at all with Blender, this is the simple and sad truth which doesn’t leave a bad taste in my mouth, it makes me completely disgusted.
ps: sorry Bart if I went a bit over the line, but those comments that I happen to find every now and then on BN make me go totally mad, I can’t stand them.
pps:about Blender Cookie, which is great and I love it, they have also a citizen program, which is not free. And of course it isn’t, do you think that Jonathan or Wes model to themselves a roast pig every day for lunch or a Lamborghini to hang out with their friends? Because if it’s like that I have definitely start studying seriously human modeling and create myself a couple of girlfriends.
Frankly, I purchased this good book because of big bunch of bonuses :) And of course I’ll be very good with compositing now. Just glanced it yesterday and found the very neat advices in every tutorial. This book has a very good style of “feeding” – it’s sharp and short. Exactly what I desired.
So after looking into it I got sure that it worth 47$ defenitely! Good price so… Andrew will get his deserved reward. :)
Well, he’s more of a marketing guy, and that’s his right. I personally don’t like that style, “registration / sample chapters / bonuses” and all, but I’m not going to give moral judgements, it’s a free world. No one is forced to buy his stuff.
I just purchased the e-book and I’m looking forward to working my way through it. Never used the compositor until Andrew’s Introduction to the Compositor video a few days ago and now I’m hooked!
I’m surprised no one has mentioned the fact that Andrew has also promised to keep the tutorials up to date until 2012. As Blender 2.5 continues to mature. Where on earth will you find that from anyone else? $47.00 is cheap considering it also includes 5 bonus items and if you purchase The Wow Factor before May 22. You also get an added bonus The Vault! Andrew really could ask more and get it!
As for shamelessly promoting himself? Everything in life is not free. Better get used to it. Most sites require you to sign up and login to participate It’s not really all that scary! What the heck are you so afraid of?
Andrew is talented, informative and he creates very thorough tutorials. I for one am glad someone out there is working hard to help get more people started at using Blender 2.5. I have found his tutorials some of the easiest to follow. And the most complete of any out there! I will definitely be purchasing this package.
No offense to the author Mr. Price, but the $47 price (no pun intended) seems very steep since this is usually reserved for hardcover printed like “Game Programming Gems” series, or many other landmark series of usefull techincal manuals usually with 500+ pages, not 100…
Take for example “Physically Based Rendering”, over 1000pages of arguably some of the most useful material documented in a hardcover print, for $80, translate that to a 100page internet tutorial wanting $50, and I can see some disparity.
Also I saw an example (did not register to see the sample included, this was older) it was covering some lens flare section, it had a bunch of screen caps from movies like star trek, and shows like fringe. You can do that on a free tutorial but on product you are selling it seems unprofessional to me. I could be wrong and that may not be from the same book.
Anyway maybe if this was 10$~15$ it would be better for everyone to believe in.
Andrew Price was the guy who presented “my”/Nils Blender Smoke on the last Blender Conference and I can say that I would lay my hand in the fire not only for his skill but also for the way he presents the stuff. He did know many smoke tricks that I didn’t even think of!
And yes, it’s worth the price, not low-level-wanna-be-artists/hobby-artists price of $15…
Thumbs up by me!
I bought the book as soon it was available. Well worth twice twice price.
To all that haters above – FIRST OF ALL JUST TAKE A LOOK WHAT HE OFERS FOR 47$ and then come back and post here. Your argumentation is not based on true facts.
@Akta
Rage on.
Your points are valid of course, except for the fact that I did open the wow factor webpage before commenting.
Just bought and downloaded my copy.
Considering all the extra’s that come with the “wow factor”, the price of $47 is more than reasonable.
These extra’s were the major factor in my decision to purchase the wow factor. The e-book alone would probably bot have been enough.
To get the extra’s you’ll receive an email in order to subscribe to a bonuseslist.
I expected to receive this email alongside or shortly after the purchase-confirmation, but that doesn’t seem to be the case?
How was this for any others that bought the wow-factor?
Just to be on the safe side I’ve mailed andrew about it.
Happy blending
Oh yes, the pricing…
This might well be a book full of useful information. I saw a lot of his free stuff and i think he’s capable of telling us a lot about things we don’t even know they exist. But: 47 bucks? Come on, have a look at the blender e-shop. There’s “Mastering Blender” for $39, “Blender 3D Architecture” for $31 and not to forget “Introducing Character Animation” for $34,80 (sitting right behind me on my book shelf). These are actual books, which means a lot of costs for actually producing them. And i don’t think they stand back in terms of content.
For about half the price i would have bought this one without any further thinking.
Regarding his ways of marketing: It’s the same as with the weather. You may like it or not, but you have to live with it. And it’s never as bad as you’re told by the others. ;)
Get use to buying e book now,printing companies are penny bankrupt.
The content itself is excellent in my opinion. The webpage does a very good job in letting you know what you’ll get and what it covers, so basically it’s up to the individual to decide on whether the price suits them.
As for the price itself? Well, that’s not really something to debate. if there’s one thing that the good ol’ free market is very good at it’s setting prices. If the book sells, it’s priced right. If it doesn’t, I’m sure Andrew will figure out what to do with the price.
Well, well, well… Here is an interesting case.
I’d say that 47$ is quite much. That being said, I admit you get a lot BUT I’d rather NOT get tons of bonuses and pay about 25/30$.
It feels like buying a TV AND a nice Teapot to go with AND an inflatable boat for 1000$ while you just need a 800$ TV
And while the quality surely is there (I don’t doubt it a single second), I must admit I am a little bit put off by this … “aggressive” marketing strategy. I am the kind of customer that shrinks back into his armoured panzer when a vendor appears. Would it be presented in another, more sober fashion, without the numerous “myself”,”my own” and “this bonus” and “that bonus valued xxx$” I would have thought about buying, really.
Anyway, I wish him much success, the content seems really nice !
@ PPL who loves free and cheap – LOL
The work that Andrew put into this tutorial series and the absolutly professional method he used to present it deserves every penny he is asking.
Andrew has posted a number of free tutorials and has given of himself freely to the blender community and quite franky deserves the amount he is asking for his book. I purchased it within 5 min of receiving the email that it was availible for several reasons:
1). There is almost nothing availible that documents compositors in a comprehensive manner
2). Andrew always lays out his tutorials in a clear and concise manner which lends an ease to understanding.
3). He deserves it!!
A persons work deserves some sort of payment, if it be a pat on the back, recognition, or even dollars. To expect a high quality tutorials to be constantly free or cheap demeans the authors efforts.
So far as his “marketing techniques” lol – get over it! There is nothing wrong with marketing and putting your face forward. To harsh critics that cant understand that I suggest you try offering something of worth to the community and get a good taste of the reaction you get – especially if you ask for some compensation.
Also do not forget the cost involved in marketing and selling online. He has been using online services which guess what – COSTS MONEY!!
$47.00 is not too much to ask especially in light of all that Andrew has given to the communtiy already and for what his is asking for his product which btw is promised to be updated as necessary as there is changes to Blender with the advent of 2.52 and the upcomming 2.6.
@Andrew – keep up the work – the core of the communtity loves what you are doing.
I just want to put in my 2 cents to say that I bought this package (it’s a package of videos, interviews, blend files if you order right away, not just an eBook). The price is a slightly high considering that all the assets are digital with no manufacturing costs for Andrew.
However saying that, I have to say, that most Blender tutorials online that are free are not as high quality as his, and they are not presented as well and as clearly. In my opinion, if you are serious about learning the compositor, you should stop being so cheap and spend some money on your education. $47 is not that much money when you consider how much work Andrew has put into preparing the material, in addition to the tips and information that is presented.
For me, it is such a treat to get tutorials that are aesthetically pleasing and well put together. If you are satisfied with crappy, disorganized videos tutorials with bad audio and small video size, then forget paying for anything, because those are definitely worth no money.
Anyway, I bought it, I’m glad I did, so go check it out. Thanks Andrew! Keep it up!
I also brought the book, I was in the first 100 and will receive “the vault”, Without “the vault” this book is worth every cent. With “the vault” its priceless.
Andrew video tutorials are clear well produce and very easy to understand. His written tutorials are also very well written also, they are among the best on the net.
He plains all his tutorials to the point of perfection, and offers them free. Sure this is the first item he’s offer for sale, however its not just an e-book. He’s include an encyclopedia, video tutorials, interviews, mp3 version of the book. and for the firs 100 his .blend’s. I have never brought any product so quickly before.
While on the subject sure its a collection of pdf’s and videos, However it hasn’t taken any less time or effort to produce this book in pdf as it would have getting it printed. Why should he offer months of his life for free.
@Dave parsons Pull your head in, check the book out first then comment, and your beloved Blender cookie has a subscription only section also.
To everyone else buy this package(because it’s more that a book) its worth every cent.
Mike.
Well, I have to say, after reading the pretty sad case of whiners who complain about $47 bucks, I’m going to have to say, you guys are disgusting. You’re likely the kind of people that just take, take without ever giving back to any open source project. And you’re also likely the first to complain when someone writes a free tutorial or offers a web trick that contains an error. Well grow up. Andrew deserves to make money, just as anyone who uses Blender to produce for-profit work, deserves to make money. A person can drop $50 bucks on an afternoon workshop and learn a lot less. I have pretty much every book on Blender, and I’ve dropped $30 bucks a month at Lynda.com for the Blender tutorials, and I still purchased this book because it contains some great examples in an area of Blender that isn’t well documented. And I’m pretty pumped by the fact that my $47 will give me more knowledge then those that don’t see the value.
The only thing that makes me sick is that someone is probably going to post it out there, or give it to others without paying. And that’s why unfortunately – there’s DRM.
Yeah, what Nate said… This looks awesome!
Bought it, and from what I have seen so far, think I definitely got value for my money. Only had a chance to look through the material quickly but I would have to say that there is more than $100 in value here – without the .blends. The quality of the material is very impressive Andrew, I’m sure that anyone who values improving themselves will be very happy with the modest purchase price.
Look great!!… $47 is fine, is a profesional work not a gift,
I bought the book as soon as it was available. (Actually, the “The Vault” counter was still at 100 when I bought it!) I think it is an excellent book. Even effects I was already familiar with, he would mention something that I did not know. The content is exceptional!
As for the price tag. I actually think that $47 isn’t too bad. It’s roughly the same price that Blendercookie is charging for their 2010 Character Training series (which I also purchased). You have to consider the fact that you are not only getting the e-book, but a LOT of other stuff as well. Two interviews, a node encyclopedia, several textures, an audio book, Five video tutorials, and a complete breakdown of some of the shots from the book. He advertises these as “extras” which is of course good marketing.
As for his marketing techniques…I think Mr. Price is good at it. If anything, he could have a successful marketing career! I don’t find his techniques distasteful or boastful. On the contrary, I thought the updates and previews that he provided were helpful in understanding what you would be getting.
Overall, I think Mr. Price has done an amazing job. When I first started out with Blender (a year ago) I looked for compositing tutorials all over the internet and found very few! The techniques that Mr. Price teaches in this book are essential for creating convincing and engaging renders and animations. I, personally, feel like I got a pretty good deal for my money, and I’m helped another Blender enthusiast make a living…that’s all good in my book!
Why not charge an even $50. :-)
Tempers seem to be flaring, here. I see comments like these directed at people who are less than enthused by Andrew’s ebook announcement:
“I’m simply speechless when I read some comments here on BN.”
“Most of the people like you behaves in this way just because they’re able themselves to do anything at all with Blender, this is the simple and sad truth which doesn’t leave a bad taste in my mouth, it makes me completely disgusted.”
“Well, I have to say, after reading the pretty sad case of whiners who complain about $47 bucks, I’m going to have to say, you guys are disgusting. You’re likely the kind of people that just take, take without ever giving back to any open source project.”
“To all that haters above – FIRST OF ALL JUST TAKE A LOOK WHAT HE OFERS FOR 47$ and then come back and post here. Your argumentation is not based on true facts.”
And yet all the “hate” I’m seeing around here seems to be coming from those who’ve bought the book — or plan to very soon. No, not every one of them, but a very prominent subset of them.
This is supposed to be a Blender forum, not a mudslinging seminar. Yes, this is the Internet, but is it too much to ask for a little tolerance for people whose opinions are different from your own? Protip: disagreeing with you does not make one a “disgusting, whining sad case hater.”
If I were Andrew, I’d be pretty embarrassed to be getting this kind of “support.” With friends like these…
I bought the series looked over it and gave it back.
It was way to basic for 47 $ dollars.
I have to agree here that with all the books I consumed in the
past years this work is simply overpriced.
I would rate it at 10 $. Consider the fact that compared to a print
version he has not to care about printing costs, etc. which always
add the price of print material.
My point of criticism is that it mainly scratches on the surface
but misses depth a lot.
I feel Andrew mistook quantity with quality. The section about motion blur
in Blender for example leaves out many important aspects in composting
to know, such as rendering in passes to prevent dof artifacts.
But I have to state that I am not new to Blender. However based on the
advertisement, which is honestly really a bit aggressive and hyped, I assumed
to get a very very good product. I feel I get similar material through screen
casts on the web.
If the main book, which I only cared about, the rest was rather not really important
or felt thrown in, would be enhanced and the chapters would be deeper in explanatory
I think the price would be ok. Some of the scenes are quite cool and show a consistent level of quality. Focusing on them more and maybe supplying the blend files might seal the deal.
I find it very interesting that he also wants to update the pdf. That is to be honest nice of him
for those who bought it.
I will try to donate some money for the effort he made, since he refunded me and I liked
on movie in the series he had – while I could get similar online for free – or offered all my
movies for free as well.
But hey, also keep in mind that this is the first start.
Just my 2 cents.
I got this package yesterday and consider it well worth the price. I suppose that I must have already thought that or I wouldn’t have purchased- but he is offering a 100% guaranteed money-back deal within 30 days if you don’t think it’s up to scratch.
One comment I take issue with is the notion that because making digital assets has no “manufacturing” cost, somehow this reduces the price to charge. I consider that to be corrosive to the notion of how much an artist’s time and effort is worht, and having that opinion expressed in an artistic community is depressing. It’s hard enough to persuade clients to pay ore than food-to-mouth rates as it is without the communities of artists devaluing the work!
~P~
Personally, I found the simplicity and straightforwardness of the tutorials refreshing, and the information easy to get at. Along the way, important issues such as how to use the render layers efficiently, and object index are covered in a way that is easy to get. There are some quite unexpected little gems that connect functions I had hitherto not fully understood. Funnily enough, it was a little document (the node descriptor list) that clinched it for me. I’m really glad I purchased the wow factor package, but in defence of some contributors here who question the price point, if it were priced below the psychological $40 mark – ie $39.95, somehow I think that there would have been little or no controversy, and the likely extra units shifted as a result would more than cover the difference, particularly over the long haul. Compositing is something of a specialist’s dark art, and there isn’t much comprehensive information out there, save this, Roger Wickes’ book, and David Weese’s tutorials, but I suspect the audience for this material is correspondingly and comparatively small, so I suspect, over time the price will adjust to reflect this to keep sales up in true market spirit. Let’s just say that those who are happy to stub up are the ‘early adopters’ who felt having the information now justified the spend. That said, I don’t think it’s helpful to dismiss out of hand the concerns of those who are questioning the price point. We are still in a functional recession, despite all the happy talk from the big finance sector. I really wish we could ‘question’ the banks in the same open way as we can those who are brave enough to enter this bear pit :)
BTW, I would heartily recommend Blender Cookie’s superb 2010 Blender training series for 2.5, which is fantastic value for money, if anyone is finding the transition from 2.49 to 2,5 a little daunting. IMHO, the training there is superior to much of the material I’ve seen (and paid for) for Maya.
Hi Andrew,
bought the WOW-Factor yesterday, but got only the PDF without extras.
The Downloadpage said to check my Inbox, but no new E-Mail arrived yet.
What now?
For my part i´m more Interested in the Encyclopedia than in the Tutorials
itself. Would be a pity if i never get it for the money paid.
A lot of what is covered in the PDF, i all ready know. I was there when the noodle editor
was introduced, and had a couple of weeks to play with an unofficial build.
About the Marketing style. Basically i support that People want money for their
work. But that reminded me a little of the Home Shopping-Network.
No hard feelings, but i think that scares people off. It almost did scare me off,
and i was hesitating a long time before i made the decision to actually buy it.
If you just had put the WOW-Factor, the Encyclopedia and maybe Out of the Blue
for lets say about 10 – 20 bucks. The decision to buy it wouldn´t be hard.
On the upper hand its really cool to have guarantied updates when Blender Changes.
And i like the way it is written. Some can tell that you put allot of thought into this.
Wow, judging by the positive comments by the buyers he’s already made a lot of money! It seems a lot of Blenderheads are well off :)
Plus he gets a lot of free publicity, some of those comments sound exactly like “testimonials” from marketing-driven quick-sell sites.
“I bought the book as soon it was available. Well worth twice the price.”
“Without “the vault” this book is worth every cent. With “the vault” its priceless.”
“…the absolutly professional method he used to present it deserves every penny he is asking.”
Like from a page with red headings and yellow highlights :-)
That’s why claas’s (also a buyer’s) comment is a little refreshing.
Hey Konstanty, I was harsh just because that wasn’t criticism, that was a pure insult. I’m talking about this sentence: “The way he shamelessly self promotes himself leaves a bad taste in my mouth.”
I was the first to think in the beginning that the price was a bit high compared to other Blender books, however when I saw the full package I thought that 40€ was pretty honest, considering what you get. Then whether you need/like it or not is another thing which personally I don’t care at all. Here, at least from my perspective, I don’t need to protect anybody, but I get mad when I see pointless comments aiming just to offend a person. Anyway, what’s your point? Saying to people that they’re embarrassing when they say to other people they are “disgusting”? Well, good point I have to say.
Hmmmm……..his Marketing is “up-to-date” ( …you must not like it). His e-book looks professional. He spent a lot of time in it.
BUT HE WANTS MONEY FOR THAT – we should burn down his home… äh sorry, his hotel or apartment, damn where he is living to day ?
If someone spent his time on educational things and try to earn some money with it – ITS OKAY !
If you don´t like it – don´t buy it ! ( …the last words sounds good – maybe i can sell them… is there smoke in front of my office ?……arrrrgh )
Greetings and keep up your good work Andrew !
@Pawel I am real person not some home shopping network testimonials bot. I have no affiliation with Andrew.
What is your problem with people having real opinions of quality products. Go buy a copy read it then comeback and apologize.
It seams like your some random anti guru hater that loves nothing more than to pi55 on someone Else’s parade.
If your still not sure that I’m real check my website. Send the webmaster an email and I’ll reply. And that will prove I’m a real human being.
Mike.
I’ve bought the WOW Factor ebook yesterday, and just by skimming through it I already learned a lot. It’s very clear and understandable, and wastes no time in introductory stuff, every chapter is about something useful. And the bonus materials are very valuable too. 47$ may seem a little too much at first, but I found it totally worth the price asked. Andrew promotes himself and makes money from his tutorials? Yes, and what’s wrong with that? He deserves money for his good work, and if I had his knowledge of Blender I’ll try to make some money from that too. And honestly, in my country you pay 50$ just for refueling your car, so for all this information and effort it seemed to me a fair price.
Happy Blending to all :-)
For me its too expensive for an 105 page ebook, thats more than a real book costs. And i dont want to register for a free chapter. So i have to pass this.
Good lord! I’ve not been this mad since that dreaded “Microsoft asking about open source” thread. remember that? A whole bunch of bigoted and unreasonable comments?
Here’s what a comunity of kind, open minded, open source users should be saying:
@redbyte; BEST OF LUCK MAN!! This looks like it could be useful, and when someone uploads a constructive review, I shall consider buying it if I can find the bucks to do so. I hope this brings you success and others the information they need.
I mean come on, how hard was that?
Just because Blender is free, it does not mean everything associated with it should be free or so cheap it might as well be free. People deserve payment for their time if they earn it and don’t deserve being flamed just because they want to earn some money for all their hard work. People gotta eat and buy toys right? ;)
Is the website some sort of parody on that infamous You-Know-What-Magix site?
Seriously. The advertising on the site is really aggressive and annoying. Not to say someone may very well mistake it as hoax.
Just saying as a potential customer, not a marketing expert… the trailer looked great, though.
I think $47 is a weird price.
It’s not expensive and not cheap.
Too cheap to be taken serious by profs and to expensive for blenderloonies.
But forget the blender loonies, most of them think $5,= is much.
So focus on the pro’s and raise the price to $80,= as soon as you can ( just call the $47 an introduction discount price ).
Its not like I’m going to gift somebody a pdf so it must be for self study. And if I’m serious about 3d like being in some studio, there really is no difference between $47 and $80 bucks. You’ll sell the same amount but earn the extra buck.
Once you’ve reached the earnings that might cover the costs of making it ( count $40,= per hour of work, so I guess that’s somewhere around the $10,000.= ) you can always consider dropping the price to $20,= orso, specialy if its showing a 2 version old blender.
Good luck and prosper.
Nice trailer to introduce the pdf!
I tried out the street light tutorial on the composer and it really helped me a lot with the composer.
I’ve only recently started using it, too bad it doesn’t work with Yayfray.
I would really like to get your book, but i’ll need to save up first. Great work!
Its kinda funny that when you find 47$ expensive you are automatically expecting things for free or you are a freeloader… . Open minded also means that you are willingly to listen to others why they have an opinion of something, not jumping to conclusions or name calling.
Hell the critical opinions are even the most valuable to learn from in sales…
I’m not even bothering to write why I find the prices of ebooks (in general) to expensive even if I have a constructive opinion about these things. As a freeloader or cheap bastard I rather put my time in the new book (costs 60 euros) that I found this morning on my doorstop.
For me the book is well worth the price!! I’m relatively new to blender and this is a real good companion! The Node Encyclopedia alone is for me like gold! Sure if you are a blender pro it may not have a lot of new features in it but I highly recomend it to all beginners and people who wants to improve their composite skills!!!
Leto
Seems that Andrew is having trouble with the technical side of the pdf for download and the E-Mail connections to get the bonuses (as testified by the latest user’s comments on his webside for the “WOW factor”).
So I would advise anybody planning to buy the package to wait until he has ironed out the technicalities. Besides that I am wondering what will happen AFTER the 25th of May: will he reduce the amount of stuff (47 bucks seem rather steep when you get a PRINTED book -like Wickes’ “Foundation Blender Compositing” – WITH a CD covering all examples with .blend files for about the same price) or will he lower the price ?
For people like me who have donated to buy Blender free and have bought each and every DVD produced by the Blender shop (and most of of the Blender books,too) the agressive tone of some of the “followers” of Andrew’s sale campaign is disconcerting. Compared to what others in the community are offering in the same price range I find it overpriced and – without the .blend files for the tutorial examples – rather skinny.
Just my 2 cents – no need to insult anybody for expressing a different opinion ;-P ….
Just to drop my two cents in, I think most importantly is the promise to keep this book updated as and when Blender is, for a set period of time. All too often software educational material becomes outdated (“Blender 2.49 Scripting”…too mention one) very quickly.
As to the $47… personally I’d have gone for $47.99 :)
not 1000000000000000000$ !!!! No! not 1000000000000000,99$ !!!!! Noooo! not 100000000004657,33$ !!!! Nooooooo!!!! not 1000000000000000,43364636,3737,99$ !!!! Nooooo!!!! ………………………………not 10000,99$ !!! Nooo!!!………..10 years later…..999,99$ !!! Noooooo!!!!……6 months later……only 47$ !!!!!! Really! Only 47$ !!!!!!!!!!!……+ Bonus, +2 Bonus, + Tut, + 2 Tut, + T-shirt + wow cup + wow toilet seat…… uhhhhhhhhh what a monkey business! – that’s not Blender for me.
@ Thompson
And what is Blender in your opinion?
I’m still saving up- long route to $47; but as far as I have seen, his tutorials are AMAZING! Not just, the content, but the presentation and how he cracks our brains with it. Sad, I won’t get the amount ready until The Vault offer is over :( That would’ve been the icing on the cake.
I’d like to add another thing: Andrew is offering to purchasers of his ebook FREE upgrades until 2012. How many books you bought (for something about 30$ each) are now anything between outdated and useless, because of the big changes our beloved Blender had in the last couple of years? I have some, now collecting dust on the bookshelf. In my opinion Andrew is offering a very good product, and frankly speaking I couldn’t care less about of his marketing style. If you think it’s useful you buy it, otherwise you don’t. It’s that simple. The availability of good learning material is a very good thing, IMHO.
Happy Blending to all of you ;-)
There seems t be a lot of talk about value, and whether or not $47 is a lot to pay for this eBook. Without doubt his expertise is unquestionable, and he has put a lot of work into it. I have the very greatist respect for Andrew, who has worked extremely hard to get where he is, and has contributed a great deal to the blender community,to me he is an inspiration.
However, the amount of $47 is relative, and is not the same for everyone. If you are wealthy, or doing well, even $147 may seem cheap to you, but if you are struggling while trying to learn these skills, $47 could be your week’s food bill. I have no doubt this is worth every penny in terms of work and usefulness, but people shouldn’t assume that any abitary cost is equal for all. I feel it’s disrespectful to brag that $47 is cheap, or nothing, when many people will find it impossible to find that much money on top of keeping a computer running.
Andrew, maybe you could publish a real paper book we can hold, just for us old folks ;)
Anyway, good luck with the book Andrew and keep showing us the way. Kudos :)
Nate wrote:
“Well, I have to say, after reading the pretty sad case of whiners who complain about $47 bucks, I’m going to have to say, you guys are disgusting.”
Well, what I wrote before was going to be my last comment on the matter, but to be called disgusting for airing my opinions, that I’m not going to tolerate.
Claas’s review of the book sums up my immediate feeling about the product, that $47 is too much for an ebook. With all due respect to everyone else here, Claas’s opinion means more to me as we started using Blender at roughly the same time, and both of us have taught Blender in a professional capacity. Some of us don’t care about ‘extras’, but the core package itself. Additionally, if I were to spend money, it would be on a Blender foundation product, to help fund Blender development directly, and I’d get an actual book in return, something I can read on a train.
As for registering for what amounts to a freebie…..not a chance. This is a common tactic used to boost member numbers and to create a user base to advertise to. You shouldn’t make people jump through hoops for supposedly free content, end of story.
My reaction to the site itself is best summed up by what wndr said:
“Is the website some sort of parody on that infamous You-Know-What-Magix site?”
That was exactly how I felt. Combine the site with the price, then look at the Blender Guru site, where he shamelessly self promotes himself, writes ridiculous articles such as ‘why your renders suck’, and you get a vague idea of the massive ego you’re dealing with. Look at this article:
http://www.blenderguru.com/my-story/ (How many pictures of yourself do you need?)
It’s a combination of things that made me post originally, I realise people may consider it pettiness, or jealousy. The truth is that it’s just rubs me up the wrong way.
So, to give my two cents to the emerging flamewar: I bought the book, just finished reading through it and looking at the extra stuff. The Tutorials are short and to the point, making them really good as a reference. The videos are fine, too, although I think I’ve seen some of them on the blenderguru site before (might be wrong though).
What I don’t like is the pricetag. 38 EUR is simply too much for the content provided and I would not buy it again if I had the choice. The pricetag would also be too high for a regular book, simply because I think that the content is not worth it.
I also disliked the promotional video that reminded me too much of telemarketing, but since Andrew did provide a lot of good tutorials in the past, I put aside my worries and bought it anyway. So, I’m seeing this buy more as a thank you for the past, but as already said: not again, if I had the choice.
“Claas’s review of the book sums up my immediate feeling about the product, that $47 is too much for an ebook. With all due respect to everyone else here, Claas’s opinion means more to me as we started using Blender at roughly the same time, and both of us have taught Blender in a professional capacity. Some of us don’t care about ‘extras’, but the core package itself. Additionally, if I were to spend money, it would be on a Blender foundation product, to help fund Blender development directly, and I’d get an actual book in return, something I can read on a train.”
This makes half sense to me. Then everybody else outside the foundation shouldn’t get a penny for what he/she does? Why? Isn’t other people knowledge also valuable? However the first part of the comment is fine with me, it’s a matter of personal opinions and I respect who says: “No thanks, it’s too much for me, I don’t think this is worth my money”. Fine, no problem at all.
However again you made the same mistake as before:
“That was exactly how I felt. Combine the site with the price, then look at the Blender Guru site, where he shamelessly self promotes himself, writes ridiculous articles such as ‘why your renders suck’, and you get a vague idea of the massive ego you’re dealing with. Look at this article:
http://www.blenderguru.com/my-story/ (How many pictures of yourself do you need?)”
Here you go to the personal aspect. Who the hell are you to judge people? This is indeed frustration coming up from your stomach. Man, you must have had a very difficult childhood. People can sell themselves also in the open source world, I can’t see why not. I can’t see the point in offending somebody who’s exposing himself to the Blender world, with his own pictures, his own work, his own money. Tell me why, has he cheated somebody? Is he a thief or what? People can and must sell themselves also in the open source world, which again I say is not a “free” world. The difference is in the product you get, compared to the other business world. Open content that can be reused and in which you can see and understand what’s going on in it.
Let me tell you something frankly Dave, people like you are a shame for every community.
I’m sure he is charging what he needs to make it worth his time. Heaven forbid any of you freeloaders should try and make a buck some day.
Akta wrote:
“Here you go to the personal aspect. Who the hell are you to judge people? This is indeed frustration coming up from your stomach. Man, you must have had a very difficult childhood.”
Well, I understand most of what you’re saying, but it seems you’ve just pwned yourself with that last sentence. Think about it for a second…
“Let me tell you something frankly Dave, people like you are a shame for every community.”
Oh, I see. So being an individual and having opinions is a big no no for this community? This is the same reaction I saw when a small minority quite rightly pointed out errors in the Sintel renders. The cries of ‘you can’t say that to the Sintel team’ were almost cacophonous in nature.
And of course, everyone who made such blasphemous comments were either unskilled and frustrated artists, or out and out haters, right? It had nothing to do with the fact that these people wanted to see the movie flourish, right?……these people are simply a disgrace to the community, or at least, that’s what the attack lemmings would have you believe.
Let me tell you something; my comments represent ME, not the community. I’m an individual. The only tie I have with you or anyone else here is that I share an interest in Blender. Apart from that, opinions will differ wildly. It seems to me you’re saying that nobody should be allowed to voice opinions that stray from the pack, lest they be labeled a ‘shame for every community’
In my opinion, the more diversity in the Blender community, the better. You’re just promoting group think.
Dave Parsons wrote:
“Let me tell you something; my comments represent ME, not the community…”
Me also! ;)
Hi again.
Just got the e-mail and received the specials.
Guess i was a little to impationed.
And, damn… the lens flare looks way better in motion.
I’ll wait for someone to upload it for free on a website, that way I will not spend even a penny.
:)
Has anybody who has bought Price’s Wow Factor also bought Roger Wickes’ Blender compositing? How do these compare?
The price really isn’t an issue. Go to Gnome and look how much those tutorials are. Your getting a heck of a deal here. My issue is the current state of Blender. It’s still in an Alpha stage. I am waiting for a more complete feature list still i start using 2.5
Come on release a beta version already with the bells and whistles nailed down. I want to use scripts save my preferences and so on.
@ Luis Fonseca
In all conscience, how can you post a comment like that ?
$47 is way too much for a 100 page e-book for an open-source application. I’ve seen really great 3DsMax e-books for only $15 that had about the same amount of pages.
I would have no problem paying $20-$25. I read your post about the book on your blenderguru site and it does sound like a truly great book! Maybe give out 1-2 tutorials from it as a preview for the users who are iffy about buying it.
I haven’t looked at the actual book so I could be totally wrong, and maybe it is worth the price.
That’s just my 2 cents.
Why on Earth is everyone wasting time posting nonsense in this thread? It’s all *very* simple:
Andrew set the price of his book. If an individual thinks the price is too high, he/she won’t buy it. If they think it’s worth the price, and they can afford to pay that price, they will make the purchase. Any first-year economics class will teach you that. In case you skipped economics or are not yet old enough for it to be in your class schedule, I’ll help you out: http://www.netmba.com/econ/micro/demand/curve/
Andrew has chosen to market his book in a particular way. Unless his methods violate the terms of service here (or on any other web forum he posts to) then he’s perfectly justified to employ them. Whether or not certain individuals on those forums like or dislike the way he advertises his book is really irrelevant. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but those opinions, either for or against, have no merit whatsoever.
Those who feel that their negative comments here in the forum are somehow contributing to the greater good by providing criticism or alternative viewpoints are either dishonest or deluding themselves. I doubt very much that Andrew would read, much less heed, the comments here regarding price, content, or marketing methods. Expressing opinions is certainly allowed, but pretending that those opinions mean anything to anyone besides the poster is just silly.
I purchased the book. I think it is very well done and I feel that the content is certainly worth the price that I paid.
I feel that Andrew has supported the Blender community more than the majority of the people in the Blender user base in general, and here in this thread in particular. I had intended to buy Wow Factor sight-unseen as a gesture of thanks for the hours of FREE tutorials he’s produced that I’ve benefited from.
If only people would put as much effort into positive things, like using, promoting, and supporting Blender, as they do engaging in flame wars, I’d bet we’d see a lot more art created.
@Tikomiko
Roger Wickes Blender compositing book is essential reading. It is a very detailed and thorough reference work, particularly good at linking work in the compositor to work in the 3d editor, such as the creation of custom masks.. I see the wow factor as complementary to it rather than a rival, as it homes in on ‘specific how’to’s’. I tend to get multiple learning sources on a subject, as it helps to get several angles on a subject, which is probably an expensive way to approach it, but if it saves working time in the end, it tends to pay for itself in the long run.
@MartianR
I did it to break the ice, actually I already purchased the book and is excellent.
No jokes.
@ Luis Fonseca
I’m breathing again ! That’s a lot of broken ice. This thread probably did need a bit of light relief, so thanks for your mischievous approach :))
@Mike
I don’t doubt you are a real person, or the other people who have praised the ebook. I’m just allergic to this marketing style. But you’re right, I shouldn’t have ridiculed actual people’s utterances. My apologies.
The book is awesone, but I have an observation with the video tutorials.
My mother tongue is not English (as you can see), I can easily follow a tutorial with an American accent, although I have small problems with the British accent, but Australian accent that’s another thing.
My hearing will have to train with Steve Irwin (The Crocodile Hunter) with subtitles.
What happened to Andrew?
Where has he gone?
he was the first to post in this thread and now is gone.
:(
The website really makes the book look “cheap” if you know what I mean.
A good product should sell itself without any excuses.
@Skwerm
Nicely said ;)
@Paul Mena G
Timely observation. Well, this thread has in parts become something of an ‘opinions tourette’s fest”, so not a healthy or kind place to hang about in, particularly after presenting a big chunk of work to the world.
Probably there wouldn’t be this much debate if Blender cost like Maya and Cinema4D; thousands.
But because Blender is free it attracts, wa-la, people who like free stuff.
I suspect those criticizing selling this product, are the same ones downloading pirated software and music. Just a guess.
If you want it buy it, if you don’t, don’t. It’s called ‘Voting with your dollars’.
Thanks for offering this Andrew.
Dave, as long as critics are constructive are very welcome, you can also check my comment on the Sintel post that you already mentioned to understand what’s my point of view on criticism. However you might convey with me that when you talk about personal stuff, especially on the net, is quite easy that a critic can be seen or perceived as an offence. In your case especially, when you talk about shame regarding Andrew’s personality and the way in which he presents himself to the Blender community you definitely cross the line. You didn’t say: hey andrew, I don’t like your book, it’s not worth 49$ – full stop. If you said that I wouldn’t have said a word, as I said critics are the soul of innovation and without them there’s no development at all. So I must admit that I crossed the line myself against you and I apologize for that, I just feel so mad when somebody goes personal that I can’t really control myself sometimes. So no hard feeling, with this last comment I just hope that constructive critics will help Andrew to understand what the community really wants.
Cheers.
I love Blender, and all of the users who put in their time and effort into making tutorials for the community even though some of them are very ungrateful. I totally agree that Andrew should be charging for this. BUT if you look in the store at Blender3d.org, there is not one book over $35, even the DVDs are cheap, and some of them are probably more useful that this 100-page e-book.
I would totally buy this book if it was cheaper. But for now I am just gonna use my $40 bucks on a bag of “inspiration” where I will probably get more bang for my buck.
WOW! Interesting collection of comments :P
The book is $47 due to the amount of time and effort put into it. It contains knowledge that I’ve learned in my 7 years of using Blender, plus access to .blends that I have spent hundreds of hours creating. Part of the cost is also that I will be updating the book on a bi-monthly basis for the next year and providing these updates free.
But as someone already said, the choice is ultimately up to you. Vote with your dollars! :)
@ MartianR:
Thanks, this is the kind of feedback I wanted. I also like to have complementary sources to learn from. I already have Wickes book, which is fantastic, very thorough (which I do not have time to go through, right now) yet somewhat lacking in specific ‘howtos’. I am sure Price’s ebook can nicely complement Wickes’ Blender Compositing, I am definitely going to buy Wow factor (knowledge is never cheap).
@ everybody else not liking “Andrew Price’s personality”: if you check his website, I think he mentions his age – 21 years old. At that age one tends to be exuberant, and sometimes appear to be brimming with overconfidence (especially, if you master something with an initial steep learning curve, such as blender) . And I get a feeling that the harsher critics are probably around the same age – very extreme in their reactions.
Let the criticism be constructive and encourage people – whatever their age/ personality / etc – create quality tutorials that can rival well-known commercial brands.
@ Akta
Once again, I agree with all of the points you’ve raised, and I also understand your passion…it’s something I have an abundance of myself.
Akta wrote:
“You didn’t say: hey andrew, I don’t like your book, it’s not worth 49$ – full stop. If you said that I wouldn’t have said a word, as I said critics are the soul of innovation and without them there’s no development at all.”
Well, I did…at first. I mentioned the pricing, the data mining tactics, and the cheap, over zealous marketing, I was moved to elaborate further when I got called disgusting for mentioning these things. That’s when I let my full opinion be known, which may well have been a mistake on my part, but the truth is that’s the impression Redbyte has left me with, and I meant every word I said.
At this point, I feel I’m crossing a line myself, so I’m going to stop posting in this article, and I wholeheartedly apologise if I annoyed anyone (which I did). I personally hope Andrew drops this style and sells products based on their merits, not some 3d magix sytle sensationalism. His pricing is suspect as well.
So no hard feelings at all, and cheers to you too :)
Dave.
Next he’ll sell us his modus operandi.
I mean, the screen grabbing, the templates, the e-commerce.
Is is not only Blender knowledge.
I am ashamed that 40 dollar is no problem fo me and that I only look with a half an eye to the WOW facor.
Others, youngsters and the unlucky born have to save for it, but would use it better as I do.
I have been poor also.
ZOMG Andrew how dare you want money for a massive amount of time and effort spent on excellent learning resources. Don’t you know Blender should only be used for free, open source tribute renders showing the glorious destruction of Autodesk and the rest of their corrupt capitalist community?
Sheesh. If we could find a way to utilize Blender users’ whining as a method of generating electricity, we could bankrupt Exxon.
Disclaimer: While I do plan to pick this up; I haven’t yet.
One of the points that seem to have been raised repeatedly about is that it’s expensive for an eBook – I’m not sure that’s really a valid criticism in this instance. What you’re really paying for is the information, not the delivery format – had Andrew presented this book as a series of video tutorials I doubt anyone would have bat an eye at the price.
For me, I don’t really care what format the information is presented in (vid tute, book, eBook) provided that the selected format doesn’t get in the way of accessing that information. In fact, for this sort of thing, I personally prefer an eBook as I find it far easier to locate the information I’m after.
The other thing to bear in mind when evaluating the price is the lack of alternative sources. While most of Blenders functions are well covered by both free and commercial tutorials there is very little information about the Compositor (at least that I’ve been able to find) available online. Little besides Roger Wickes book, in fact.
I’ve purchased most of the books available in the Blender e-Shop (except, actually, for Rogers book!) and while I’ve found them useful, they also date quickly. I’m a lot more comfortable paying for e-delivery purchases these days (such as BlenderCookies 2010 training series) and Andrew’s commitment to keep the book up-to-date for the next year is a big plus.
By the way, something else that isn’t well covered is Blenders VSE. *cough* hint *cough*
Blah blah blah blah! GRRR! >:O
(Sorry, everyone else was whining, I just wanted to feel apart of something. :x)
Just bought the collection. Some infos could be a little more detailed — but the bundle is really worth the price. I charge up to 125€/Hour depending on the work (also Blender-related) that a client needs to get done. Time is precious so if this collection saves me 1/2 hour of doing my own research everything is great. Also, with this purchase, I kind of “employed” a Blender expert for a complete year telling (and hopefully teaching) me about the best practice compositing workflows — no research needed on my side. Maybe he should offer a “Student” or “Education” version to make it available to a larger audience — probably boosting his sales. Or just split the package and sell the “bonuses” as single products.
I have bought the “The WoW Factor” and in the same time I have got the all bonuses shipping with the e-book.
The entire work has no valuable cost price for me, it’s very well done.
I’m wandering about many bad comment’s on price’s e-book and bonuses.
I thought that blender’s community people were a special way of sharing knowledge, and I think that so.
But after reading all the post my opinion is changed in bad.
In the world only few people makes good resources about learning Blender as a professional teachers,
and this should not have any cost for you?
Brilliant!
Just downloaded ‘The Vault’, the blendfile examples component of the overall ‘Wow Factor’ package. Of enormous value in linking the compositing tutorials parts to the scene assembly process.
I know people have been complaining about the price, but honestly, I think the issue lies with the trailer. I didn’t see anything ‘exceptional’ in it, not to say you aren’t talented (I’ve found some of your tutorials helpful) but the video lacks stimulant to cause me to want to buy it, it doesn’t answer my question…”what IS in the book?”
Don’t worry Andrew all the guys upset over your book just aren’t getting laid.
I bought and downloaded WOWfactor this morning and that is the BEST $47.00 I have spent in a long time! I am 43. I cannot afford to NOT have this information if I want my dreams to live. I already use Carrara 7.0, GIMP, Hexagon, and now I see how Blender is going to tremendously impact my life so I am highly grateful for Andrew’s book and I truly hope that he makes a killing on this because it is so packed full of value. No fluff either. Right now I am a webmaster and marketing guru for a major multi-national railroad company and I am quickly learning everything I can about film and animation to use motion graphics for my employer. This ebook and the bonus materials are going to save me huge amounts of time and significantly decrease the learning curve. I HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone who wants to do the same and increase the value of their art and marketing efforts. Quote me on that!
I have bought it yesterday and would say, it is worth the money.
The tutorials are extraordinary and even very experienced Blender users
can learn a lot of it.
I’m starting to look through the book and associated materials and I think they are very helpful, well worth the $47. If you’re going to use the compositor in Blender, this book will save you a lot of time searching and experimenting.
@CorsairX – Check out Roger’s book for some VSE coverage. Like you, I probably have all the Blender books/DVDs _plus_ Roger’s and Andrew’s ;-)
Andrew’s tutorials are exceptional and this book has helped me alot, so has his free tutorials… :) and i assure all that the quality of his tutorials are all gerat and really helpfull.
If anyone is doubting that this book is filled with quality information, then I can assure that it is.
Just go check out a few of his free tutorials and you’ll see how I can be so completely certain about that without having bought the book.
Good job, Andrew!
Interesting collection of posts from a community of like-minded artists.
It seems that those who don’t like marketing, don’t like the book or Andrew’s methods. They haven’t paid for the book, because they don’t like marketing, self-promotion or kangaroos (or at least photos of Andrew). They sound mean-spirited and miserable. They say a person’s work couldn’t be worth more than $10 if it is distributed electronically. (HUH?? Have you watched TV lately, or a movie? Since when have physical products been automatically more valuable than non-physical?) Oh, and the pricing ($47) ‘is suspect also’ – how is the number 47 suspect, exactly? Would you prefer the answer to life, the universe and everything ($42)?
On the other hand, there are people who have actually bought the book! They proclaim enthusiastically that they love the content, the tutorials are clear, the package is worth at least $47, Andrew is a great teacher, etc. etc. Guess which group I’d listen to in order to find out how good the book is? Oh, a really small number have bought the book and don’t like it, but the big majority love it.
What is wrong with some people that they can’t stand to see someone promoting their work, and feel it is their duty to point out to everyone else that fact that their nose is out of joint? Note to Dave Parsons: no-one cares that you don’t like Andrew’s methods, his pricing, or him as a person. It is better to be thought a fool than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt. Keep your mean, nasty comments to yourself. If you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything. And no, being told you are mean and nasty is NOT an excuse for you to launch into yet another tirade about how you hate someone promoting their work. Get over yourself – you just aren’t that important.
$50 for an e-book? Isn’t that a little steep? I pay no more than $35 for most printed books these days and those are a LOT thicker than Andrew’s short tutorials.
How about $15 for the whole set?
I really like Andrew Price’s Tutorials at his Blender Guru Site – Especially those for the tire and wheel excellent
And am leaning heavily towards buying this set as some of whats freely available for blender is a bit thin and not nearly as well explained or in depth as is Andrews approach
I will say that his website for The Wow factor looks kinda like those for slimming Berry Juice lol
err Yeah it could do with a little polish but I like that the guy is confident and theres some good stuff so Good luck to him I say.
besides he’s selling Tutorials for 3D not Tutorials for website design or marketing for that matter.
The question is – is $47 worth it in the long run for this info… and i suspect it is..
Also how much would a similar set cost for say 3d studio or maya
I’m just grateful I don’t have to spend hundreds on such a classy piece of software like Blender
and there talented people showing us a way of saving time on our 3D voyage…
i’m gonna mull it over and perhaps purchase later today
sometimes you need to put a value on something – otherwise people will see it as worthless!
Now I understand why pubs for artist do better business as pubs for electricians.
I can see people not liking the marketing-speak and the design of the page. Because it looks like a template taken RIGHT out of a sketchy diet-pills or male-enhancement microsite. Now the interesting question, DOES this marketing style work? Not sure. I haven’t done the research. If one were to build a microsite or page to sell a product and if a certain method of page design for selling that product works 3-fold over another style, as the seller it’d be hard to resist using the proven design. Even if it means people notice and complain about the “contrived” feel.
But in Andrew’s favor he’s got simple clear and understandable writing for this sales page, other people’s testimonials, sample video, clear call to action.
Bottom line, If people bought it and like the product for the price. Cool. Unlike some products (like diet pills), this one clearly delivers blender content and training and as long as you have eyes to read and ears to hear, you can take advantage of it.
Something I like. He offers a 30-day money back guarantee and you can keep the videos.
Something I don’t like: The prices all crossed off as if this were a steal and he’s doing the buyer a HUGE favor by pricing it so low. That’s honestly really lame and an insult to some people’s sensibilities.
I don’t get this though. No mention on the page of what “The Vault” is that you all are talking about. Coming to this site later than everyone by what, 2 days, I have no idea what I missed out on. That’s one thing that bothers me. Was it that critical of a bonus item that only a few people could get it? I mean I get urgency as a sales tactic, but for Christ’s sake, give us a chance to get the information.
If this kind of training is Andrew’s passion and his way of making a living, it’s all good in my book. When I do freelance and consulting, I know that I provide value, I do a good job and I can charge a higher price within reason because I stand behind my work and the client or buyer is better off for it. They get what’s promised. $47 bucks is a lot, but you know what, I spent $15.50 at a damn coffee house today for me and the wife to get 2 blended drinks and a muffin. Ugh. Who’s the sucker? My smoothie didn’t teach me anything about compositing. =(
The “Vault” are the blend files you could get if you ordered on the first day.
He doesn’t want to give them to everyone, because then they become worthless.
It would be a little dull if he said :
“For xx dollars, you get so many bytes, so many as text, so many as video, and so much as audio”
What I find funny is that once I have paid $47 I might want to print that book out. What would the ‘true’ price be then?
Why not release the modules as separate items?
I mean : i’m not going to buy the set, as i don’t need it, but i would pay for G1 if sold as a separate product
After reading your cheap Telemarketing email sent to me, I must say this:
I think that marketing strategy will make a drop on your sales. Deadlines should handle prices only. Buy cheaper now or buy expensive later. But never tell to a customer that your product will have less quality material after certain date. No good Mister. That marketing strategy is mostly used by TV marketers, ” if you call us during the next 24 hours you will get this and this…That strategy works because they target COMPULSIVE TV BUYERS, but here as Blender users we think and study before buying, we are not COMPULSIVE BUYERS Mister.
Oh, look what i’ve found in my inbox today.
— start quote—
You may remember that there were two video tutorials that I
was including with The Wow Factor package:
* Some like it Hot – How to create a realistic desert scene
* Out of the Blue – How to create animated backgrounds
for DVD menus
Well these video tutorials are about to disappear forever.
The reason for this is that too many people have started using the
techniques in these tutorials and I don’t want the market to
doesn’t become saturated.
That’s why on May 25 at 11:59pm GMT I will be taking them offline
to never be released again.
I don’t want anyone to be mad that they missed out, so that’s why
I’m emailing you now.
http://www.wowfactorbook.com/
Once they are gone you will never be able to access the secrets
taught in those tutorials again. The deadline is May 25 – 11:59 GMT
and I will not be making it available to anyone else after this
time.
To make sure you don’t miss out go here:
http://www.wowfactorbook.com/
— end quote —
I have to admit that the phrase “too many people have started using the
techniques in these tutorials and I don’t want the market to doesn’t become saturated” sounded absolutely reasonable to me, so i formatted my c: drive just to be sure to get rid of all this possibly insulting material. I think i didn’t download one of these tutorials, but better safe than sorry.
Now i’m sitting in my shelter, whining: “Oh, mom, can’t you make these voices go away?”
Too late, the market’s saturated! It’s TOTALLY DESTROYED!
saturated hmm i just dont node man!
I bet i’ll be able to fix that with the compositor
just need time to go thru the tutorials …
“It is better to be thought a fool than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt. Keep your mean, nasty comments to yourself. If you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything. And no, being told you are mean and nasty is NOT an excuse for you to launch into yet another tirade about how you hate someone promoting their work. Get over yourself – you just aren’t that important.”
Well, Amazed…..I didn’t say I was, did I?
The reason some of us dislike this (and read the damn comments, it isn’t just me) is highlighted perfectly in the email people have been receiving. I knew this would happen, and that’s exactly why I refused to register. Now that the actual email has been posted here in all it’s lulzy glory, it just reinforces my points, doesn’t it?
But then again, what points did you bring up about the actual topic of discussion? — that’s right, none. You just commented to take a swing at me.
Since nobody has countered what I said about the site and the marketing style, it just further highlights the fact that a) I was right and b) Those opinions are VALID and deserve to stay here. Keep your ‘If you’ve got nothing nice to say, don’t say anything’ crap to yourself. Some of us can handle strong opinions.
And YES, I know I just broke my word about posting here again.
“Since nobody has countered what I said about the site and the marketing style, it just further highlights the fact that a) I was right and b) Those opinions are VALID and deserve to stay here.”
Uh, no, a) you were wrong and b) your opinions are OPINIONS, not truth. They are no more “valid” than anyone else’s opinion.
The thing that riles me is that people like you, Dave, see fit to try to tear down someone else’s work on the basis that you personally don’t like it, that it is “lulzy” (what does that word mean, anyway?), that it reminds you of TV marketing, that it offends your sense of what advertising should be like, or you think it’s overpriced.
WHO CARES WHAT YOU THINK? If you don’t like it, don’t sign up for it. If you think the book is too expensive, don’t pay for it! We live in a free-economy world in which you are free to purchase Andrew’s book or not, as you decide yourself. But the debate on this page has been dominated by people attacking Andrew himself and his methods, apparently trying as hard as they could to convince other readers not to buy the book. If you stood outside my store waving a placard saying “don’t shop here – the goods are overpriced, and the selling techniques remind me of TV marketing”, a) I would have a right to vigorously defend myself to sell my goods as I see fit, and to ask you to move on and let me conduct my business in a fair environment free from interference, and b) you’d be the laughing stock of the neighbourhood.
To return to the core of the debate, since you requested, Dave: The methods used by Andrew are those used by thousands if not millions of online businesses. By promoting the benefits of the purchase, adding unexpected bonuses to the purchased goods, and building in scarcity (pay now or pay more later), marketers are doing the best they can to maximise their sales. They are attempting to persuade as many potential customers as possible to part with their money, by utilising basic psychology, used by salesmen in all types of business since ancient times.
Well, I for one see no problem with that. I haven’t bought Andrew’s book, as I’m not that interested in the content. But I like Andrew’s clear teaching in his tutorial videos and the way be put the sales video together. I like the fact that he doesn’t try to hide behind a mask and obscure the fact that he’s an Australian or that he’s young. I am considerably older than he is, but I am highly impressed with his ability to teach others and to sell his original products on the open market. Again, what is wrong with ANY of that? Answer: nothing.
The arguments made by Dave Parsons, Claas, quiss42 and the rest boil down to just two points:
1. They don’t like the marketing style
2. They think the book is over-priced
Well, guys, GET OVER IT. Don’t buy the book if you don’t want to, but keep your big mouth shut if all you want to do is to try to stop others from buying it.
My final point: I wonder if some other comments on this page reveal the truth behind the meanness and the nastiness. Some commentators here, deep down, believe that they should be able to get something for nothing, that the Internet should be free, and that if they can get Blender for nothing, then damn it they should be able to get all the training they want for free too. News Flash! In the real world, people pay for goods and services which they see value in, and they will pay what they believe is fair for those goods and services.
If you want all your Blender education to be free, go for it. There are still lots of resources that are totally free. But if you would like the quality of Blender work to continue to go up, people like Andrew are going to have to be paid so that they can afford their time in producing original, high-quality training and educational resources. And I for one think that would be a very good thing for the Blender “community”, and would help Blender artists to gain credibility and standing in the wider world of 3D artists.
Just a thought…
“WHO CARES WHAT YOU THINK? If you don’t like it, don’t sign up for it.”
Well, firstly…you clearly care. Secondly, I’m not going to sign up for it, I’ve made that clear enough. Do you know what else I’m going to do? Express my opinions here, and guess who isn’t going to stop me? You.
“Uh, no, a) you were wrong and b) your opinions are OPINIONS, not truth. They are no more “valid” than anyone else’s opinion.”
Bravo, you’ve finally nailed the point with that last sentence. I think you’ll find that’s why there’s a comment section here — For people to express their OPINIONS. Also, exactly how am I wrong? Don’t just make assertions, state your case clearly. ‘No you are wrong’ isn’t any sort of argument, and you know it.
“Well, guys, GET OVER IT. Don’t buy the book if you don’t want to, but keep your big mouth shut if all you want to do is to try to stop others from buying it.”
Well, I’m not telling anyone not to buy it, I’m expressing my opinion about the style, price, presentation and data mining tactics he is using. So no, I will not shut up, and exactly who do you think you are to tell people to shut up anyway?
“If you want all your Blender education to be free, go for it. There are still lots of resources that are totally free. But if you would like the quality of Blender work to continue to go up, people like Andrew are going to have to be paid so that they can afford their time in producing original, high-quality training and educational resources. And I for one think that would be a very good thing for the Blender “community”, and would help Blender artists to gain credibility and standing in the wider world of 3D artists.”
Who said I’m against any of this, or people making money from Blender? I used to train people to use Blender in a professional capacity, so they could *shock* get paid. Also, there have been dozens of articles on this site for commercial products, and I haven’t said anything bad about a single one of them. This in my opinion is different, and that’s why I’m commenting. If you’re going to argue with me, at least have a little honesty about you and don’t misrepresent MY positions.
“that it is “lulzy” (what does that word mean, anyway?)”
If you can’t figure that one out, you probably shouldn’t be on the internet.
I’m gonna express an opinion.
Dave Parsons
if you cannot be constructive you exemplify all that is wrong with the internet!
hows that?
perhaps you need to just chill a bit – i’ve bought the Wow Factor it cost £33ish
yeah the marketing isnt great Ive said that before see comment above.
its worth it to me – what do want to do hang anyone that makes a mistake?
theres plenty of things to get upset about in todays world
People need to eat more humble pie!
I’d like to say thanks to Mr Andrew Price – So Thanks Lad keep up the good work! :)
and perhaps if you have time change the marketing to something more classy
eg https://shop.3dtotal.com/product_info.php?products_id=349&osCsid=s4s5qduhbakh2901lueqj4cav4
just a thought nothing more…
Hey where’s my free steak knives? RIPPED OFF!
Seriously, this Andrew character obviously loves himself, just look at how he splashes his pic all over the net. “Look at me, world! I’m so fucking fabulous!”
ha ha ha ha tool
HAPPY BLEDNING!!!
I’d say that $49 for 4 books, 2 interviews, an mp3 of the book, a 30 day money back guarantee and free updates until 2011 is quite good. If he sold them all seperately it would cost much more and no one would think anything of it.
Sorry the guarantee is up to 2012.
Even more worth it.
mp3 of book? why?
I confess that $47 appears to me to be an excessive price for an electronically downloaded product, which has no printing costs of any kind associated with it. There is no inventory. There are no wasted copies that will one day have to be shredded back into the ones and zeroes from whence they came.
Furthermore, I observe from the images in the “teaser” that I have seen most if not all of those images before. I have already bought a book before, only to realize that it contains text lifted from the Blender Wiki (tpyos and all).
Going forward, i would suggest that it would be infinitely better to price this product at about $10 (USD), and to promote the heck out of it. Include the ability to access a protected forum, with downloads and a “community” of fellow users, led by the author and moderated by a professional team. In this regard, you are -strictly- going for volume, market penetration and saturation. You are also trying to leverage the unique capabilities of the Internet as a publishing medium; as an essentially cost-free publishing medium with truly world-wide scope.
MikeR, just to set your mind at ease, you won’t find any copy lifted from Blender Wiki or other online sources in Andrew’s book. It’s a pity your comment implies that the book you already bought was one of Andrew’s. This is his first book, so I know it wasn’t his. Naturally, Andrew used some of his best work in advertising the book, but there is loads of completely new material in it, I believe.
I think you are misrepresenting online publishing. Of course, all electronic products have low “production costs”. However, that does not mean that they cost little to produce, or that they have little value. There are many things in life, and in the marketplace, which have great intrinsic value, but whose materials are cheap or free. I personally have spent tens of thousands on education, the value being made up of the information I received and the changes which occurred in me as a result of the education. Should I have said to my professors “You should teach me for free, since your words don’t cost you anything”? The wisdom that a person offers to the marketplace may be worth millions for a few words, even though the material used to transmit that information might be completely without intrinsic value. Think of the formula for Coca-Cola, or the algorithm used by Google to rank websites, for example.
There is no way you can judge the value to you, or to someone else, of Andrew’s book without seeing it, and declare that it is not worth $47 on the basis that electrons are free. The value is in what a person will learn from having the book, which could be a much, much higher figure than $47. At the end of the day, the marketplace will “decide” what Andrew’s book is worth, and if $47 is too much people won’t buy it. On the basis of comments here from those who have bought it, it is clear that lots of purchasers believe that $47 is cheap!
I just wanted to come back to make a comment on some of the posts being made.
A lot of people are saying that when you do something online that there is no costs involved. Like somehow if you write a book and print it, the only costs you’re paying for are the costs of printing.
There is also the cost of writing the book, which can take a long time, and thus a lot of the author’s time, to do.
If this material took him say: a month to make. Then the sales he makes from this has to cover at least the cost of his living expenses for a month. If he wants to make a profit, then even more! (I don’t know how long it took him to make this stuff).
Because you have to remember, he did this instead of going into an office and working for however long it took him to make it, so the sales have to at least match how much money he would of made working.
The same applies for 3d design, graphic design or web design. Even though you’re doing the design work on a computer, and thus ‘no materials required’ other than the computer itself and software, it doesn’t mean it costs you nothing to devote your time to the task.
So I’d say he has every right to charge that amount for this. If he makes 100 sales, then he’ll get $4700, which is pretty fair considering it probably took at least a month to make this, given the amount of content involved.
(All the numbers are guesses, I don’t know how long it took him to make this, or how many sales he has made).
I am a kid and this is to expensive can you reduce it to 30$
@Dude
I doubt Andrew will sell his book for less than the list price of $47, as that would devalue the book.
As “a kid”, you have limited income. But I bet you could find a way to raise the $47, if it is important to you. Plenty of kids have raised money to purchase what they really wanted, by selling papers, setting up some sort of “lemonade stand”, which today could be an eBay account.
Have a go! You don’t know what you can achieve until you try it.
Lol guys its funny cos the only tutorials that had given me understanding on blender cycles is obviously Andrews lessons so whats wrong to buy his book for 47$ if i make 1000 bugs from working with his skills impacted in me buh basically its even worth it folks lol.
Am just saying stop being a torn in his flesh